The 40 Best Tom Hardy Performances

Tom Hardy at an event

Year: 2015

Medium: Film

Role: Max Rockatansky

Fury Road was a phenomenon in spring 2015. The plot follows Hardy's character, but Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa drives most of the action. In fact, Hardy's willingness to sit in the passenger's seat is part of what makes this film so incredible. 

Year: 2008

Medium: Film

Role: Charles Bronson

Bronson sent Hardy from “what do I know that guy from?” to “oh my God I love Tom Hardy” territory. In it, he plays Charles Bronson, the real-life psychopath known to the press as "Britain's most violent prisoner." Hardy added more than 40 pounds of muscle for the role, and even developed a friendship with the notorious title character. 

Year: 2010

Medium: Film

Role: Eames

While Bronson solidified Hardy as an Oscar-quality leading man, Christopher Nolan’s Inception placed him firmly on the A-list. Starring alongside silverscreen legends Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine, Hardy delivered a memorable performance as Eames, an assistant to DiCaprio’s Dom Cobb. We’re still not sure what happened in this movie – give us a break, we only saw it once – but we know Hardy looked great in his big, billowy dress shirts and shabby oversized blazers.

Year: 2018

Medium: Film

Role: Eddie Brock/Venom

In 2018, Hardy took his talents to Marvel – as the law says every successful actor must – to star as Eddie Brock and his alter ego in Venom. Hardy turned in a neurotic performance as Brock and a robust, bombastic performance as Venom – the perfect combination for a film that looks and sounds like shotgunning a Monster energy drink feels.

Year: 2021

Medium: Film

Role: Eddie Brock/Venom

If you enjoyed the dubstep-fueled mayhem of 2018’s Venom, grab your Court Graffiks and lip piercings, because there’s plenty more where that came from! Originally scheduled for release in October 2020, Eddie Brock and his sinister alter ego will return next summer.

Year: 2020

Medium: Film

Role: Al Capone

Capone could be the perfect movie for the COVID-19 era. In it, Hardy’s aging mobster is sequestered in his Palm Island home, wracked by hallucinations from his syphilis-addled mind. This ‘audacious, incoherent, shitshow,’ as our own H. Drew Blackburn put it, sounds suspiciously like my quarantine.

Year: 2015

Medium: Film

Role: John Fitzgerald

The Revenant is overrated in many ways. The story is slow, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s lead performance plays like a 156-minute plea for recognition from the Academy. It’s actually Hardy’s performance as trapper John Fitzgerald that steals the show, along with the imposing wilderness of Alberta, Canada, where much of the movie was filmed.

Year: 2017

Medium: Film

Role: Farrier

Most of the performances in Dunkirk are, by necessity, muted. This project aimed to replicate the horrors of war through the medium of film – the characters are tools less than individuals. Despite that, Hardy was customarily strong as pilot Farrier.

Year: 2012

Medium: Film

Role: Bane

Hardy returned to his villainous roots as Bane, Batman’s monstrous and brilliant adversary in the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.

Year: 2002

Medium: Film

Role: Praetor Shinzon

Nemesis was a major step in Hardy’s career. He played the film’s lead villain, Shinzon, who is also a clone of Star Trek legend Jean-Luc Picard. This wasn’t the best-reviewed film in the Star Trek empire, but Hardy’s performance wasn’t bad; he received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the part.

Year: 2001

Medium: Film

Role: SPC Lance Twombly

Black Hawk Down, Hardy’s first film role, tells the story of a doomed US military expedition inside war-ravaged Mogadishu, Somalia. Early in his career, it was clear that Hardy was comfortable with two things: playing military roles and putting on American accents.

Year: 2001

Medium: TV

Role: Private John Janovec

Hardy abandoned his studies at Drama Centre London to play Private John Janovec in Band of Brothers, the ten-part World War II miniseries created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. We don't normally endorse ditching school, but when legends come knocking, you answer the door. 

Year: 2013-present

Medium: TV 

Role: Alfie Solomons

In Peaky Blinders, the BBC period drama about organized crime in World War I Birmingham, Hardy stars alongside Cillian Murphy and others as Alfie Solomons, a Jewish gang leader from London. Blinders is five seasons in and still going strong: in 2018, creator Steven Knight predicted a sixth and seventh season with the possibility of a movie on the horizon. A video game is also on the way. 

Year: 2013

Medium: Film

Role: Ivan Locke

Locke is very much a Tom Hardy vehicle. He’s the only actor who appears on screen – Olivia Coleman, Ruth Wilson, and others provide voices – and pretty much the entire story takes place in his car. Predictably, the critics loved it.

Year: 2011

Medium: Film

Role: Ricki Tarr

In Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, Hardy had the opportunity to work alongside Gary Oldman, a man he has described as his hero. Both men play members of British intelligence service in this spy thriller that earned three Oscar nominations.

Year: 2012

Medium: Film

Role: Tuck Hansen

By 2012, Hardy had established himself as devoted character actor with a penchant for violent and disturbed performances. In other words, it was time to star in a light-hearted romantic comedy! Hardy plays Tuck Hansen (all-time great rom-com name), a CIA agent trying to win the heart of Lauren Scott (Reese Witherspoon). Unfortunately, Hansen’s best buddy FDR (Chris Pine), who is also a CIA agent, is interested in the same woman. Hilarity – or something approximating humor – ensues.

Year: 2008

Medium: Film

Role: Handsome Bob

Guy Ritchie crime capers aren't known for nuanced performances, but Hardy delivers one as Handsome Bob, a closeted member of the notorious London street gang The Wild Bunch. RocknRolla marked the end of the under-the-radar phase of Hardy's career - from here on out it's all headlining performances and blockbuster hits. 

Year: 1998

Medium: Reality TV

Role: Contestant

In 1998, Tom Hardy burst onto the scene as the winner of a short-lived modeling competition hosted by The Big Breakfast, a Channel 4 breakfast television program that ran for ten years in the ‘90s and early 2000s. Nobody knew that this nameless hunk would go on to international fame, but the bone structure and the hair should’ve been a clue.

Year: 2017

Medium: TV

Role: Creator and star (as James Delaney)

Not only does Hardy star in Taboo as James Keziah Delaney, he also created the BBC TV series with his father, writer Chips Hardy. The series is set in 1814 and involves Delaney’s return to England with stolen African diamonds. It aired for one season.

Year: 1999, presumably

Medium: Music

Role: Rapper

Falling on Your Arse, Hardy and producer Eddie Too Tall's first and last mixtape, is embarrassing, but not nearly as embarrassing as it could be. It’s more harmless than anything, a naïve attempt at rapping that isn’t original enough to cause offense. It's also the ideal soundtrack for a deep dive into Hardy's erstwhile internet presence. Enjoy. 

Year: 2011

Medium: Film

Role: Tommy Riordan Conlon

In Warrior, Hardy once again morphed into a brooding mass of human weaponry, this time alongside Joel Edgerton. The two play Tommy and Brendan Conlon, brothers with troubled pasts and a shared passion for mixed martial arts.

Year: 2014

Medium: Film

Role: Bob Saginowsky

The Drop is notable for being the last feature film that Sopranos legend James Gandolfini would appear in. Hardy plays a Brooklyn bartender with loose affiliations to the Chechen mob. The film received favorable reviews, but will mostly be remembered as Gandolfini’s swan song. RIP, Tony.

Year: 2015

Medium: Film

Role: Ronald and Reginald Kray

Back in Britain’s criminal underworld, Hardy stars as Ronnie and Reggie Kray, identical twin crime lords that ruled London in the 1950s and ‘60s. The film is flawed, but Hardy’s performance attracted rave reviews and earned him Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film at the British Independent Film Awards.

Year: 2004

Medium: Film

Role: Clarkie

A film in the vein of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Layer Cake explores London’s underworld through the eyes of Daniel Craig’s unnamed protagonist. Hardy plays Clarkie, a member of Craig’s serious and sensible crew.

Year: 2012

Medium: Film

Role: Forrest Bondurant

Hardy stars alongside Shia LaBeouf (a.k.a. American Tom Hardy) and Jessica Chastain in this Prohibition Era crime drama. Lawless didn’t quite live up to its massive potential, but Hardy can’t be blamed: critics described his performance as “compelling.”

Year: 2009

Medium: TV miniseries

Role: Heathcliff

Just like Oliver Twist, Wuthering Heights, the novel by Emily Bronte, has been retold countless times. This incarnation features a delicate, long-haired Tom Hardy breaking hearts alongside Charlotte Riley. The pair began a relationship on set and are now married.

Year: 2009

Medium: TV miniseries

Role: Freddie Jackson

Hardy returned to a familiar setting - the British underworld - for The Take, a four-part miniseries aired by Sky1. The show follows a familiar formula: Hardy’s Freddie Jackson is released from prison with big plans, but can he avoid the pitfalls of criminal life? Not a memorable show, but Hardy brings electric energy in the starring role.

Year: 2011

Medium: Music video

Role: Himself

Before they starred together in Venom, Hardy appeared in actor and rapper Riz Ahmed’s music video for the song ‘Sour Times.’ It isn’t exactly a starring role – Hardy lip syncs a couple lines – but it’s cool to see the two Brits coming together on a side project.

Year: 2003

Medium: Stage

Role: Skank

Hardy doesn’t confine himself to acting on camera – he’s also a man of the stage. In 2003, he starred in the London production of In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, a play by Stephen Adly Guirgis about life in Hell’s Kitchen prior to Giuliani’s arrival. Hardy was nominated for the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his performance.

Year: 2003

Medium: Stage

Role: Luca

Also in 2003, Hardy played the role of Luca in Blood. He was awarded the 2003 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for this performance, and for his performance in In Arabia We’d All Be Kings.

Year: 2007

Medium: Stage

Role: Dorimant

The 2007 production of The Man of Mode was a modern retelling of the 1676 comedy by George Etherege. The play follows hedonistic Dorimant as he tries to ditch one London lady for another. Hardy, naturally, took on the leading role.

Year: 2007

Medium: TV miniseries

Role: Bill Sikes

The story of Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens’ orphan pickpocket on the mean streets of 1800s London, has been told countless times. But rarely has Bill Sikes, the lumbering career criminal and domestic abuser, been so menacingly portrayed as by Hardy in this BBC miniseries.

Year: 2007

Medium: TV movie

Role: Stuart Clive Shorter

Hardy received a 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Art (BAFTA) nomination for his portrayal of Stuart Clive Shorter, a career criminal and the subject of Alexander Masters' biography Stuart: A Life Backwards. Benedict Cumberbatch starred as Masters.

Year: 2006

Medium: TV movie

Role: John Fleming

A remake of the 1961 BBC series of the same name, A for Andromeda focuses on a group of scientists trying to build a supercomputer based on instructions transmitted from a distant galaxy. Only Hardy’s John Fleming suspects that something may be amiss… 

Year: 2006

Medium: Film

Role: Noel

Scenes of a Sexual Nature is one of those movies that follows several storylines tied together by a common element. Or, in this case, two common elements: every story takes place in London, and every story is at some point interrupted by Hardy's aggravating character, Noel.

Year: 2015

Medium: Film

Role: Mark

Hardy joined forces with British screen legends Olivia Coleman and Anita Dobson in London Road, the reinterpretation of a musical by the same name. The original was based on interviews with Steve Wright, a.k.a. the Suffolk Strangler. Are musicals a customary format for stories about serial killers? No. Does it work in this case? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Year: 2003

Medium: Film

Role: Matt

In LD 50 Lethal Dose, Hardy starred as Matt, an animal rights activist who infiltrates a research facility alongside three fellow zealots. This film has been largely forgotten, but its slick veneer and edgy subject matter presage the types of projects that Hardy would favor later in his career.

Year: 2005

Medium: TV miniseries

Role: Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester

BBC miniseries are their own kind of prestige TV. In The Virgin Queen, Hardy starred as Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, alongside Anne-Marie Duff as Queen Elizabeth I. The four-episode series followed the rise of the avowedly chaste queen and her ambiguous relationship with Hardy's character. 

Year: 2006

Medium: Film

Role: Theo

Minotaur is a 2006 horror film set in the Minoan Bronze Age (that’s roughly 3200 BC – 600 BC, kids). More importantly, it’s one of Hardy’s first leading rolls on film. He stars as Theo, the son of a village chieftain who volunteers to be sacrificed in order to enter an underground labyrinth in pursuit of his lost love.

Year: 2003

Medium: Film

Role: Straw

Set in medieval England, The Reckoning is a period murder mystery starring Paul Bettany and Willem Dafoe. Hardy excelled, and wore dramatic makeup, in his supporting role as Straw. At this point, we are very much in the 'under construction' phase of Hardy's career.